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learn about the
Grades 4-6
Wh House Whit Whi White H Ho Hou Hous House W Wh Whi Whit White H Ho Hou Hous E S
Bladensburg
1ST STRE ET
Washington, D.C.
YLA
AVE
NUE
J 1ST S TREET
1891
ND
A A PITOL STREET
1879
Including: 16 Activity Pages Stories From History A Look Inside the White House ● ● ●
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Dear Parents and Teachers: Since John Adams first arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1800, the presidents of the United States have used the White House as their home and office. It has evolved with the nation and today each of the 132 rooms serves as a reminder of events that have shaped the White House into an important symbol of democracy and leadership. However, it is not just a place for the president and his family to live and work, but also a living museum that houses decorative arts objects that are significant to our country’s history. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy sought to make the house a “living museum” in which every object in a room had a reason for being there. She told Life magazine reporter Hugh Sidey, “It is so bound up in our history. We need to bring it back to the way the founders envisioned.” It was Mrs. Kennedy’s program to restore the historic integrity of the public rooms that led to the establishment of the White House Historical Association in 1961. We at the White House Historical Association take special pride in fulfilling the important mission with which we have been entrusted—preserving and interpreting the President’s House for everyone. We especially aspire to share its story with learners of all ages. As such, I am pleased to introduce this educational tool that provides activities for your students and children to learn about the rich history of the White House. We hope these activities will provide an interesting and fun way of teaching your students and children about important events in our country’s history through the story of the White House—a story that we strive to preserve for generations to come. Respectfully,
Stewart D. McLaurin President
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Š2017 by the White House Historical Association. The source for numbered facts in activities is from White House Miscellany, 2016. Teachers may make duplicate copies to distribute in their classrooms. ISBN: 978-1-931917-78-0 Printed in the U.S.A.
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Answers: 1. 10; 2. 8; 3. bathrooms; 4. It is larger, it has more kinds of rooms; 5. It has kitchens and bathrooms just like our homes.
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L EARN A BOUT
THE
W HITE H OUSE
Name
How Much Do You Know About the White House?
Test your White House knowledge with this quiz. Cover the answers on the right with a sheet of paper, then try to answer the questions without peeking. How many did you answer correctly? 1. Who was the first president to live in the
White House?
2. When was the White House built?
3. How many rooms does the White House
have today?
4. What important document did Abraham
Lincoln sign in the White House that gave many slaves their freedom?
5. When was the White House officially
named the “White House”?
6. What’s the address of the White House?
7. There are three rooms on the State Floor
named after colors. What are they?
8. Why might you want to wear bowling
shoes in the White House?
9. What is the name of the president’s
formal office in the White House?
10. Where does the first family live?
1. John Adams, our second president, was the first chief executive to live in the White House. 2. Construction of the White House began in 1792. When Adams arrived in 1800, the President’s House wasn’t completely finished. 3. On the four major floors, the White House has 132 rooms, including 11 bedrooms and 34 bathrooms. 4. President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. 5. The building was informally called the “White House” after its sandstone walls were painted white in the 1800s. President Theodore Roosevelt made the name official in 1901. 6. The White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 7. The Green Room, the Blue Room, and the Red Room. 8. The White House has its own bowling alley. It was added in 1973 by President Richard Nixon. 9. The president’s formal office is known as the Oval Office. 10. The first family lives in the private residence area of the White House on the Second and Third Floors.
YOU DO IT! Write down two questions you have about the White House. Then switch questions with a classmate. Research the answers to your classmate’s questions.
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The White House has 132 rooms on its four main floors. You can find out about some of them by looking at the pictograph below.
The pictograph shows the number of certain types of architectural features in the White House. Read the graph and then answer the questions.
Number of Rooms and Features Staircases
Types of Rooms and Features
Kitchens
Dining Rooms
Bathrooms
Fireplaces
State Rooms
Bowling Alley
Movie Theater
1. How many State Rooms and dining rooms are in the White House? 2. How many staircases are in the White House? 3. What are there more of in the White House: bathrooms or fireplaces? 4. How is the White House different from other homes you know? 5. How is the White House the same as other homes you know?
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2009: Facebook and Twitter
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Throughout the last 200 years, rooms in the White House have changed. During World War II, the Map Room was used by President L ib rar y Franklin D. Roosevelt as a top-secret meeting room. Today, it is a sitting room with maps on the walls that recall the room’s most famous purpose. The plans on this page show three floors of the White House. Each room is labeled with the name by which it is known today. Events from history are
also included, in the actual rooms in which they occurred. On the blanks after each question, write the name of the correct White House room. Then, put the events in chronological order, using the blanks to the left of the questions. Once in order, the circled letters will complete an important White House quotation.
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The Peace Protocol: President William McKinley witnessed the signing in 1898, the Peace Protocol led to the end of the Spanish-American War.
Think of another important world event in your lifetime. Ask a classmate to place it on the timeline.
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Since 1800, every president except George Washington has lived in the White House. President Abraham Lincoln lived there during the Civil War in the 1860s and President Franklin D. Roosevelt lived there 80 years later, during World War II.
Though both presidents served during wartime, their experiences were very different. Read the paragraphs and fill in the blanks with the correct words from the Word Box. Words may be used more than once.
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Donald Trump 22017
Sanford Fox—head, Social Entertainment Office Bonner Arrington—carpenter foreman
Arthur Godfrey—Secret Service agent
Eugene Allen—chief butler/ maître d’
James Ketchum—curator
Henry Haller—executive chef
Susan “Susie” Morrison—pastry Susan “Susie” Morrison—pastry chefchef
Sharon Farmer—director of photography
William Allman—curator Lydia Tederick—curator
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1. Mark the Southern Magnolia that President Franklin D. Roosevelt planted in 1942 in square 5J, east of the White House. 2. President Roosevelt’s tree matched a Southern Magnolia planted by President Warren Harding in 1922. Mark this one north of Roosevelt’s tree, in grid square 4J. 3. Mark square 7G, south of the East Garden, where President Ronald Reagan planted a Willow Oak in 1988. 4. Mark the spot where President Dwight D. Eisenhower planted a Northern Red Oak in 1959; it’s in square 7H, 85.5 feet east of President Reagan’s Willow Oak. 5. Mark grid square 11F, northeast of the fountain and 513 feet south of the White House, where First Lady Rosalynn Carter planted a Japanese Maple in 1978. 6. Mark the spot 85.5 feet to the west of First Lady Rosalynn Carter’s Japanese Maple, where First Lady Frances Cleveland planted a Japanese Threadleaf Maple in 1893. 7. North of the White House, 42 feet south of the fountain in grid squares 3E and 3F, mark the spot where President Harry S. Truman first planted American Boxwoods in 1952. 8. Mark the spot where President Barack Obama planted a Littleleaf Linden that replaced President Benjamin Harrison’s Scarlet Oak in 2009, 85.5 feet east of the front drive corner in square 2I. 9. Mark the spot where President George H. W. Bush planted a Purple Beech in 1991, 265.5 feet south of the East Garden, in grid square 9G. 10. In grid square 6C, 85.5 feet south of the West Wing, mark where President Bill Clinton planted a Littleleaf Linden in 1993.
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Only 12 of the White House’s 132 rooms are on view on public tours.
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learn more about the
White House The following books and websites are filled with information about the history of the White House and those who haveand lived and worked in it.lived in it. the presidents families that have Easter Egg Roll: T The The White WhiteHouse House: An Historic Guide A History for All Ages White House Historical Association, 2011 by Jonathan Pliska illustrations by JohnofHutton The Presidents the White House Historical Association, 2018 United States of America The Living White House The First Ladies of the by Betty Monkman United States of America White House Historical Association, 2018
White House Historical Association, 2017
by Allida Black White House Historical Association, 2017
The White House: An Historic Guide White House White Historical Association, 2018 The Living House
The Presidents of the Association, 2013 White House Historical United States of America The Night Burned the White 2017House: White HouseThey Historical Association,
by Betty Monkman
The Story of Tom Freeman’s Painting by William Seale of the The First Ladies White House Historical Association, 2004 United States of America by Allida Black The President’s House: A History White House Historical Association, 2017 by William Seale
At Home in the President’s Neighborhood: At Home in theTour President’s A Photographic White Neighborhood: A Photographic Tour Photography by Bruce Photography by Bruce White Text by William Seale Text by William Seale Association, 2016 White House Historical
White House Historical Association, 2008
White House Historical Association, 2016
The Official White House China: The Official White House China: From 21st Centuries From the the18th 18thtotothe the 21st Centuries by William Allman by William Allman White Association, 2016 WhiteHouse HouseHistorical Historical Association, 2016
A Garden A Garden forthe thePresident: President: A History of for the WhiteofHouse Grounds A History the White House Grounds by Jonathan JonathanPliska Pliska by White House Historical Association, 2016 White House Historical Association, 2016
The Gingerbread Gingerbread White The WhiteHouse: House: A Pop-Up Book A Pop-Up Book Illustrated by Illustrated byChuck ChuckFischer Fischer Text by Roland Mark Ramsdell Text RolandMesnier Mesnierand and Mark Ramsdell White House 2016 White HouseHistorical HistoricalAssociation, Association, 2016
Fingerprints onBurned the Table: The Story of The Night They the White House: the White House Treaty Table The Story of Tom Freeman’s Painting by Trounstine by Connie William Remlinger Seale Illustrated by Kerry P. Talbott White House Historical Association, 2014 White House Historical Association, 2013
Fingerprints the Table: White Houseon History The Story of the Table The journal of theWhite WhiteHouse HouseTreaty Historical by Connie Remlinger Trounstine Association. Available through subscription Illustrated by Kerry P. Talbott WhiteHouseHistoryJournal.org
On the web:
White House Historical Association, 2013 The President’s House: A History
www.whitehousehistory.org by William Seale Classroom resources in the White House, first White House Historical Association, 2008 family, and presidential history; virtual tours White House History Quarterly www.whitehouse.gov Available through subscription The federal government’s site
www.nara.gov/nara/presidential/address.html On the web: Links to the presidential libraries www.whitehousehistory.org Classroom resources in the White House, first www.nps.gov family, and presidential history; virtual tours Search for presidential historic sites and museums www.whitehouse.gov The federal government’s site
www.nara.gov/nara/presidential/address.html Links to the presidential libraries
www.nps.gov Search for presidential historic sites and museums
WW HITE HITE HOUSE HOUSEHISTORICAL HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION 21 21
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